I keep breaking u-joint stuff

[Heimeken]

A few weeks b4 Ouray I dropped the rear driveshaft, turned out that the little bolts holding the straps had come loose.

I Ouray, same thing happened, this time on the trail. I was able to salvage the straps, put on new caps and keep going.

Last week at the Chile Challenge, after the first day I made a driveline inspection and one of the straps had broke in half. Replaced it and wheeled the second day.

Today, going up a steep hill, 3 of 4 U joint bolts broke.

OK so I'm convice the stock setup is just not strong enough to push 35" tires under stress. What are my options? Can i get a yoke with stronger bolts or u-bolts? Or maybe something stonger than those silly straps?

Oh, it always breaks at the transfer case yoke, not the axles and it has happened both with my old 229 and now the 208.

[Stuka]

What gear ratios are you running in the axles? Higher gears require more power to turn the tires and are more prone to breaking u-joints. As you have to give the engine more throttle to move.

Also are the bolts high grade 8 case hardened bolts? If not they will break quite easy.

And third, how bad is the driveline angle? If its a tight angle its also more prone to breaking. It may be time to stick a CV joint up there.

[nxcj]

Switch out the yoke to a U-bolt style. If you're not familiar, it has no threads in the yoke. Instead, it uses u-bolts that slide through the yoke with nuts on the back side. Problem solved unless you have other problems such as a bent shaft.

[gsmikie]

change the yoke or have it trued and get a set of girdles from moroso if you are having trouble with the same joint the toke is most likley out of true dodge does the same thing i bought a box of yokes for my 340-6 cuda seems i can get about 12,000 miles then i ripp the straps out but thenm i got a set of girdles and have not had any trouble

[Heimeken]

all the things mentioned here are possibilites. The drive angle is worse now due to the longer T18, makes a shorter rear shaft. Also I have stock 1.31 gears. And probably the yoke is also not true.

The U-bolt style would be ideal, where can I scavange one from? or maybe get a new one? I hear CV joints in the rear are pricey, but it may come to that.

[Glenn_tx]

Jaime- how'd you come out on your front driveshaft?

[nxcj]

How long is the drive shaft? If it's 3 feet or so,I doubt you need a CV Rear shaft. Are the angles opposite but equal?
You can buy new u-joint yokes but I'd find a used one unless time is an issue. I didn't catch what axles you're running. If it's a 44, a guy on ebay has been selling them for $5.00 or so. A buddy just bought four of 'em..good deal. The u-bolt set up is much more stout than the straps. Most auto parts stores should have the u-bolts for under $5.00

[Stuka]

nxcj: he has about 7" of suspension lift, CV wouldent be a bad idea.

3.31's with 35's? ouch...regear man! :D

[River Beast]

Jaime,

The rear CV isn't that bad of a price... $275 from www.arizonadriveline.com (http://www.arizonadriveline.com) TALK TO STEVE ONLY!!!! ;)

This is the same rear CV that Porkchop and I run....'cept PC put the slip at the CV end
http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/1963-1983-Wagoneers/rearcv01320.jpg http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/1963-1983-Wagoneers/rearcv02320.jpg
http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/1963-1983-Wagoneers/rearcv03320.jpg http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/1963-1983-Wagoneers/rearcv04320.jpg

[Heimeken]

Thanks RB, that's not bad at all for the setup. Just a bit short on funds right now but I should do that in the near future. BTW, is that CV Joint the same for the rear as for the front?

The shaft is still about 40" long but it is quite steeper than before cuz of my big lift.

Glen, the guy honored the warranty and made me a new one with 2" tubing and super thick walls. So I'm back to happy on that one smile.gif

As for the gearing, I have a D60 I'm putting in as a future project. It has 4.11s but for now I'm stuck with my 3.31 M20. What buzzes me is that the bolts broke while I was in granny gear.

[ March 04, 2003, 09:35 AM: Message edited by: Heimeken ]

[Panther]

Jamie,
I just checked out the pics of the Chile Challenge, looks like a good time. How did the T18 work out, improvement of the T176 I'd imagine?

Actually I don't think 55:1 low with 35's is that bad but a granny low can be jerky and cause alot of axle wrap. This would cause the strap / bolt problems at the rear output of the tcase because that's probably the steepest of the 4 angles (2 tcase and each axle).

Sometimes, there is enough meat on the yoke to drill out threads to make holes large enough for the ubolt ujoint kits. I'm not sure about the 208 but it might buy you some time with a cheap fix. The dana 44, dana 30 and dana 300 share the same splines so if you can find any donors with the ubolts it's a good idea to replace all those 1/4" bolts and straps on the axles. It amazes me that axles as large as dana 60s and 70s still have these dinky 1/4" bolts and strap holding the ujoints.
Lee

[nxcj]

Ah, didn't realize the height. Yeah, you may be lookin' for a CV. I've got the same lift but a longer rear shaft. Panther has a good point too. Have someone apply the brake and gas while you watch the rear pinion. If it's moving up too much it's anti-wrap bar time. Most guys I've saw with wrap problems break the yoke (running u-bolts). If that's the problem, you're probably breaking straps because they're the weakest point.
2 cents

[Hump]

Nobody has answered Heim's question about the high angle rear driveshaft being the same as the fronts are stock. I think we've been over the terminology thing before, but that is actually a double cardan joint, and not a constant velocity joint (CV). Anyways, why would the shaft be so expensive. If you could take your rear driveshaft and a spare front driveshaft to a good shop, couldn't they just cut off the single cardan and weld you up one with the double on it?

[Don S]

..
...The April 2003 Petersons’s 4wheel & offroad Has an article about the new Cornay CV joint for high angles…

Good Luck ;) and CUL.. Don S..

[Stuka]

Todd: your D20 has a yoke out the back? Mine has a flange mount. The drive shaft has a flange on one side of the u-joint, then the flange bolts tot he flange on the rear output of the t-case.

I have bent these bolts before, but is one known to be stronger thent he other?

[River Beast]

Jaime,

You can get the HYBRID high angle that maxes out at 40 degrees for an extra $50. Wait until you put the 60 in and have the shaft built with the 1310 CV at the T-case end and the 1350 slip yoke at the other....that way you will only do it once... ;)

Brandon,

Yeah... the yoke I swapped from my QT to the D20 and got the same yoke for the front... so yeah... both front and rear yokes are identical on the D20 and take the same 1310 CV

[Michael]

Originally posted by Hump:
Nobody has answered Heim's question about the high angle rear driveshaft being the same as the fronts are stock. I think we've been over the terminology thing before, but that is actually a double cardan joint, and not a constant velocity joint (CV). If you could take your rear driveshaft and a spare front driveshaft to a good shop, couldn't they just cut off the single cardan and weld you up one with the double on it?Hump has a great point.

[CowKiller]

Hump has a great point.[/QB]that didnt sound right. lol

[nxcj]

[/QUOTE]Hump has a great point.[/QB][/QUOTE]

True but most four wheelers refer to it as and know what you're talking about when someone calls it a CV "drive shaft". Just easier to type "CV" I guess. How about "DC"...nah smile.gif

[River Beast]

CV-DV.... we know that it's a Double Cardin joint... :D

and in a way... yeah you can take the CV from the front and add it to the rear ONLY IF you change the yoke on the rear of the T-case to accept a DC style joint AND the Double Cardin Joint head is 2.5" to match the 2.5" rear shaft tubing..... which won't happen since you only have a 2" maximum tube up front. You can order components to do this though.... www. rockforddriveline.com it breaks down every component you need.

It's much easier to just order a new hybrid high angle rear CV shaft and be done with it.

[Heimeken]

Wow guys, so much good info. It does seem that these things take on more stress now that I have the T18. The tranny itself has been great Panther. That low gear was awesome for crawling up and down those rocks at at the Chile Challenge. I think the baby jeep guys were impressed at the overall performance of the big wagoneer. I just had 100% more confidence over the T176. Though I really liked the true 4 gears on that one. Now if I could only afford a Rock-Trac (4 to 1) and things stopped breaking, then I could really crawl with confidence... kinda like shoppin'

BTW, RB, I'm ready to weld in the Riverbeast kit. I think it has definitely proven itself trail worthy.

Thanks to all for all the help.

[ March 05, 2003, 12:19 AM: Message edited by: Heimeken ]

[robselina]

Well, I thought that I just bent the front driveshaft at the Chile Challenge, but after removing it today, the u-joint at the axle side fell apart, must have broke it on the trip too...I've got the passenger side front spring installed though, all the U-bolts replaced on the front and I shaved them down so I wouldn't keep catching them. The driveshaft is supposed to arrive tomorrow I guess so at that point I should be all set. I want to fix the old one though as a spare, and by the looks of it, I need to look into some of these heavy duty solutions too!

[Heimeken]

Glad to see you joined the forum Rob, you're gonna love it.

Here's a pic of what I wound up doing to the yoke.

http://home.elp.rr.com/bela/Post_yoke.jpg

[Crazy_Jeepman]

Drilled it out and used U-bolts, I was wondering if that could be done. Looking good. By the way what was the part# for the Flares you put on your rig, I may have to copy you. I like the look!!! :D

[Heimeken]

Here's the part#10911-07 for the flares. Jeepman got any 32" (compressed) driveshafts laying around? I need a spare.

[Crazy_Jeepman]

I will measure up some and let you know. Thanks for for the part # smile.gif